Rainbow Carrot Salad

It’s finally here! GoogaMooga weekend! For those of you who are either not obsessed with food-centric events or don’t live in New York, GoogaMooga is a giant food and music festival in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park. Kramer and I went last year and had an amazing time. A lot of people said that they had a terrible time – there were crowds, food ran out, it was hard to get beer and wine, etc. but to those people I say, duh! It was a free festival in Brooklyn. Over 1,500 people were there each day. Of course there were lines! Of course there was no cell phone reception! Kramer and I, being the nerds that we are, got there right when the gates opened, got out beer tickets, ate the food we wanted, then just hung out on the lawn and relaxed in the sunshine. I had a duck confit hot dog with black garlic, my first taste of Mile End Deli’s smoked meat sandwich (which consequently started my love affair with the restaurant), and more. I was in total heaven. This year, I’m looking forward to Toro’s (all the way from Boston) braised rabbit and snail paella and I’m definitely getting something sweet from Big Gay Ice Cream. Anyone else headed over that way this weekend? Kramer and I will be there on Saturday and I’m just counting the minutes!

Kramer and I walked all around last weekend in search of Steve Burns’ awesome house – we just needed to see its beauty in real life.As far as what’s going on this week, well, not too much, which is good. I’ve actually recently started a feeble attempt at running. I ran two miles on three days this week. I don’t know if it’s necessarily getting easier yet, but I do love being outside in the nice weather and exploring my neighborhood more than I have in the past couple of years. I’m obviously very slow, but it’s all about just working on it and not giving up, right? Right now, the first mile is great. I feel excellent and think to myself, “I could do this all day!” Then, around mile one and a half, I fall right off. At this point, I’m thinking to myself, “Oh sweet lord, just keep moving your feet.” One foot goes in front of the other until finally I’m home and I collapse on the cold stone floor of my apartment’s kitchen. Maybe sometime soon I’ll be able to do three miles, but for now, I’m just going to work on not feeling like I am going to die after two. My whole family runs or used to run, but I never really got into that. I rowed crew in high school, and we did have to run during training, but I was also 16 or 17 at the time, where nothing can stop you and physical activity is no big deal. Now, I sit on my ass all day in front of a computer, so running is a serious challenge. Hopefully I can keep it up this summer and maybe I’ll even go from pasty white skin to slightly beige skin. A girl can dream!

As we head into the summer months, things are going to get real, people. Cooking is not fun in the summer, especially if you live in a place like New York where air conditioning barely works, if you’re lucky enough to have a unit at all, and everyone is packed into close, sweaty quarters. Kramer and I eat a lot of raw vegetables and fish when it’s hot outside, as I can’t be bothered to even turn on the stove for a few minutes to boil water. I was wandering around the farmer’s market one day before work and happened upon these beautiful rainbow colored carrots. I had to get them and do something to showcase their different levels of sweetness, along with their refreshing crunch. As it happened, the day I made this salad was warmer than usual (we’ve been having a lot of strangely warm days followed by chilly, breezy days lately) and I didn’t feel like cooking the carrots, plus I was afraid that their color would fade when put to heat. Therefore, into a red wine vinegar, sugar, and spring garlic mixture they went. Add a little freshly ground black pepper and lemon zest, and you’ve got yourself a lovely summer salad, that’s almost pickled but not quite. I liked to eat this nice and cold out of the refrigerator, but it’s perfect for a room temperature picnic side dish, too. You obviously don’t need different colored carrots for this, but if you can find them, they really do pop and make your plate look alive with purples, oranges, and yellows.

An old subway sign from back when each line was privately owned, cocktails, coffee, and kimchi fried eggs.
Smashing some garlic a few weeks ago (gif thanks to Jesse Chan Norris).

I got these beautiful bad boys at Union Square’s Greenmarket.

Since you are eating this salad raw, I recommend peeling the carrots, slicing thinly, then tossing with your spring garlic or scallions and your vinaigrette.

Allow to sit in the fridge for an hour or two before serving chilled or room temperature.